Faculty and administrators at the University of Oregon reached a deal on Sunday to avoid a strike set to begin just as students returned to campus for spring term on Monday.

The university agreed to give 4.5% raises to faculty, career instructors and researchers immediately, then offer additional increases in September of 2025 and 2026.

In the fall of 2025, tenured and instructional faculty would receive a raise of 3.25% under the proposed deal. Research faculty would get a 4.25% raise and limited-term faculty a 2% raise.

In the fall of 2026, tenured faculty would get a 2% raise, career instructors and researchers a 3% raise and limited-term faculty a 2% raise.

The United Academics faculty union, which represents some 1,800 faculty, researchers and librarians across campus still needs to present the agreement to its members, who will vote whether to ratify the contract.

The last-minute deal to avoid a strike caps off more than a year of bargaining between administrators and faculty, who argued they were underpaid compared to peers at other elite research universities.

The move means faculty at Oregon’s second and third largest public universities have won contract bumps amid recent labor unrest. Portland State administrators announced last week that the university had reached a tentative agreement. That includes a roughly 4% cost of living increase in the first year of the new contract, and a 3% increase in year two, according to the faculty union. Faculty in Portland vote on whether to approve that contract next week.